[[For the first installment of this series, see ShrinkRap, July 29, 2015. "Mockingbird Part I: Deconstructing an American Icon: Atticus Finch.]
In 1957, a 31 year old Alabama woman, Nelle Harper Lee, submitted a manuscript for her first novel to her agent, who sent it out to publishers, including J.B. Lippincott, where it landed on the desk of experienced editor Tay Hohoff. Ms. Hohoff recognized that "the spark of a true writer flashed in every line," but that it was "more of a series of anecdotes than a fully conceived novel" (quotations are from Jonathan Mahler's New York Times article, "Invisible Hand That Nurtured an Author of a Literary Classic").
Over the coming months, Ms. Hohoff worked closely with Nelle (everyone who knows her calls her Nelle) in trying to shape the manuscript into a novel. Out of this collaboration, the story took shape; but eventually Ms. Hohoff advised her to start over and rewrite it from the point of view of the 8 year old "Scout" Finch.
She would tell of events as they were happening in the 1930s, rather than in flashbacks through the eyes of the grown-up 28 year old Jean Louise, who returns home after living in New York and is shocked (as are readers of Mockingbird) by the racist attitudes in both her friends and family -- including her own beloved father Atticus. The action of the earlier version took place in the aftermath of the 1954 Supreme Court decision desegregating schools.
The result was a very different novel. It was published in 1960 as To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee's only published novel -- until now. For 55 years, Nelle said she did not intend to publish anything else. An executive editor at Lippincott at the time, Edward Burlingame, said that the publisher's "sales department would have published Harper Lee's laundry list."
But Ms. Hohoff, until her death in 1974, was protective of Nelle and her literary reputation. There was never any discussion of publishing the earlier manuscript, according to Burlingame, who added that "[Tay Hohoff] was not going to allow any commercial pressures or anything else to put stress on her to publish anything that wouldn't make Nelle proud or do justice to her. Anxious as we all were to get another book from Harper Lee, it was a decision we all supported."
So now, in 2015, we have the publication of that manuscript that her editor and publisher, her older sister Alice, and the author herself all resisted for 55 years.
Alice was totally protective of Nelle, but she died last November at the age of 103. Publication plans were announced three months after her death, but obviously were already underway. What we don't know is whether Alice knew about the plans.
What happened? First, everyone involved but Nelle herself has died. She is 89 years old, blind and deaf and residing in a closely guarded assisted living facility. Her sister Alice once said of Nelle, "She can't see and she can't hear and will sign anything put before her by anyone in whom she has confidence."
Her affairs, managed until just a few years ago by Alice, an attorney, have been taken over by the 50 year old Tonja Carter, an attorney in Alice Lee's law firm. Ms. Carter began there as a young secretary and became a close friend of the two sisters. They helped support her in going to school to get her own law degree, which she got in 2006. In 2007 Alice made her a partner in the law firm, and she gradually began managing Nelle's affairs and now has her durable power of attorney.
A great deal of suspicion has been directed at Ms. Carter: (1) She manages Nelle's affairs and everything about her life. (2) She discovered the manuscript and contacted the publisher. (3) She has told differing, conflicting accounts of that discovery, as to when it took place and in what form the manuscript was found. (4) No one is allowed to see or talk to Nelle without Carter's express permission and, usually, in her presence while they visit. (5) Any statements purportedly from Nelle come through her.
Wayne Flynt, Alabama historian and a friend of Ms. Lee, thinks that she is mentally fit, but has memory problems. When he asked her about the new novel, she at first asked "What novel?" Reminding her and saying "You must be so proud," he recalled that she responded: "I'm not so sure anymore." This was reported by the New York Times on March 11, 2015. Other friends (there is an approved list of 12 that are allowed by Ms. Carter to see Nelle) give differing accounts of her mental state. Some friends are no longer allowed to see her.
A journalist, Claire Suddath, wrote about the publishing of this new book from a business standpoint for the July 9, 2015 issue of Bloomberg Business Weekly. It's called "To Sell a Mockingbird Sequel: Harper Lee, Her Lawyer, and the Ethics of Consent." After extensive interviews with friends and townspeople, including Carter herself, Ms. Suddath is obviously suspicious about that "consent." She also interviewed a long-time friend of Nelle's in her New York apartment and says that, during the interview, Ms. Carter called five times to ask how it was going.
Back in March, an anonymous call to the elder abuse hot line of the Alabama Department of Human Resources resulted in a visit by investigators at the home where Nelle is living. They were specifically asked to evaluate whether she was mentally capable of making decisions related to the publication of her book. They determined that she is. But they have also pointed out that they are not mental health professionals. Their usual focus is on physical abuse of elders and whether their finances are being mishandled.
Responding to the investigators questions of whether she wanted the book to be published, they say she replied: "Why the hell would I write a book and not want it to be published?" That is not the same mind that, for 55 years, did know why she did know why she didn't want it to be published.
Of course my suspicions are circumstantial, but they are strong. There is a world of difference in being able to answer a few questions that show you know where you are and what is happening to you -- and being able to appreciate the subtle significance of publishing a book that you have, for good reason, resisted releasing for for all those years.
What -- or who -- changed her mind? And can we trust the words of the person who seems now to be in total control of every aspect of Harper Lee's life?
Tonja Carter has also -- supposedly with Harper Lee's approval -- started a non-profit called Mockingbird Co, which Carter seems to be using to control all aspects of the Mockingbird enterprise. The director is listed as Harper Lee; the vice president is Tonja Cartet. On the surface that makes complete sense. She was an intimate and trusted friend of both sisters. She is said to be a very good lawyer.
Her motives may be solely to protect Nelle and her legacy and her wealth. But she also could be manipulating the whole show for her own benefit -- or perhaps not even for personal gain but simply not understanding the literary significance of the effect of publishing Go Set a Watchman on the literary legacy of Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird.
What does seem clear is that Carter's approach is entrepreneurial and marketing rather than literary and cultural. She may turn the Mockingbird enterprise into an even more profitable venture than it has been for 55 years. But she is fast losing the loving support of the home town crowd and of the Harper Lee's adoring fans. Even with Alice and Nelle's small-town, old-fashioned approach, To Kill a Mockingbird has done very well indeed. Why try to milk it for more?
What is known to the public is that Nelle's only heirs are two nephews, who seem to have been only peripherally involved in her life. It's not the public's business to know what's in Nelle's will, but she must be very wealthy. No figures have been released about the value of the estate, but even before all the publicity surrounding this new book, royalties from Mockingbird are said to continue to be $2.3 million per year -- 55 years after its publication. And over a million copies of the new book have already been sold; and then there are the movie royalties and residuals. It must be in the hundred million range. Harper Lee has never been known to be a big spender.
Who knows what the truth about all this is? After all, "she will sign anything put before her" -- if she trusts you. And Nelle Lee apparently trusts Tonja Carter.
Should we?
Ralph
No comments:
Post a Comment